Introduction
In order for projects to be completed efficiently, an organisation needs to provide clear guidance on the project objectives, performance and quality, budget, time to completion and their relative importance. Project managers must also be given the correct level of authority to allow them to ensure a project is guided effectively and efficiently through to completion.
Project managers function as bandleaders who pull together their players each a specialist with individual score and internal rhythm. Under the leader’s direction, they all respond to the same beat.
At the request of the vice president, the interview transcripts with individual project managers have been reviewed revealing that Australia Communications,
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Historically ACI was a functional hierarchical company where staff members completed tasks within their work unit and reported directly to one manager. It would appear, although an attempt has been made to alter this arrangement resistance from the line managers has resulted in little change.
Organisational Culture
It would seem that there are a few facets of ACIs culture that may be affecting the companies’ ability to create an organisational structure that is conducive to effective project management. The first issue is that the engineers hold all major positions within the company. Although not necessarily surprising in a firm dominated by engineers, there have been many studies into the effectiveness of engineers as managers and their often difficult transition from a technical role to a pure management position. Furthermore, this lack of diversity in the management team may also stifle ACIs ability to recognise the need for change and effectively progress from its traditional approach to workflows.
ACI has also fostered a divisive culture; due to the management team being solely selected from the engineering department, there is little hope for others to progress. This division was highlighted in the interview transcripts with the large customer project manager, who stated that both marketing and the engineering group perceive the project team to be of lesser importance within the company. The lack of
Over my career, I’ve been involved in a many projects such as the acceptance of new electric rail cars to the development of a computerize maintenance management system. These projects involved dozens people, crossed department lines and spanned many months from their conception to their implementation. While most of what I learned was acquired during the project, I attended a project management course that was offered by my company’s training and development department. Whether serving as a team member or project leader, I’ve gained many insights into the process of project management.
A projects success and project managements success must be differentiated, as a project managements success can be measured by performance against quality, time and cost however a projects success can be measured by the overall projects objectives (Cooke-Davies 2002). The key criteria of a project discussed above is what the project management team and organisation together have set for the projects objective, which are the desired outcomes of the project from various aspects and stakeholders of an organisation. The following can be a standard for an organisation to follow to lessen the chance of project failure. Management must be engaged in the project and ready to support the needs of the project as top management have the resources, authority and power for implementation and as such can contribute and improve the project along the way. The project has clearly defined goals and directions with detailed specifications of the implementation process, client consultation with back and forth communication during the entire process and finally how the project is executed. Stakeholders also should agree upon success criteria of a project to ensure each stakeholders needs are met (Davis. K 2013).
Project management takes a leading role within operations. If done correctly, project management allows projects to be completed in an allotted amount of time, at an allotted budget, with an allotted number of employees as pre-determined through a vetted planning process. Many
To summarise, the time, cost and project communications management elements from the PMBOK were chosen to focus the
Performance is difficult for many individuals in the project environment because it represents a change in the way of doing business. Individuals, regardless of how competent they are, find it difficult to adapt continually to a changing situation in which they report to multiple managers.
As the world is chaotic (Djavanshir and Khorramshahgol, 2006) it is impossible to always predict the future accurately. Teller at al (2012) describes project management as balancing the “iron triangle”, where changes to any one of the planned costs, quality or scope will change the other elements. Risk management allows contingency to be put into project plans, (APM, 2012) minimising negative effects and maximising the benefits of uncertainty.
Thomas, M., & Adams, J. (2005). ADAPTING PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES TO THE MANAGEMENT OF SPECIAL EVENTS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 4, 99-114. Retrieved from https://prx-herzing.lirn.net/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.prx-herzing.lirn.net/docview/215099782?accountid=167104
New recruits were warned that no one will tell them what to do, but it was their
There will be a meeting that all group members are required to attend on Tuesday, September 20th. The meeting will take place at the fourth floor of the University Library at 10 A.M. We will discuss about what company we are going to analyze for our team project and we will also talk about each person’s role and responsibilities for the project. The discussion that we are going to have is important critical to our success on this project, therefore makes it a mandatory meeting for all group members.
Reflecting on this particular case study, the group consisted of four individuals, they were John Crumpton, Lonnie Griffin, Rosa McAllister-McRae, and Jonathan Wirt. Since Griffin already has a working relationship with Hercules Steel Industry, he suggested that the group research the Industry as its case study. The group completed preliminary research on Hercules Steel, and decided to accept Griffin’s suggestion. Based on the preliminary research, the company would be a good fit for the group’s project. However, the group had not yet received approval to research Hercules Steel, however once they received approval to move forward in completing a case study with Hercules Steel, the group began the assignment. The entire group was excited
This had convinced the company the Orlando was worth significant investment and it had been giving priority development forward. She decided to put together a dedicated project team to oversee the development. “It is important to have representatives from all relevant part of company. Although the team will carry out much of the worked themselves, they will still need the corporation and the resources of their own departments. So, as well as being part of the team, they are also gateways to expertise around the company. ‘The team consisted of representative of marketing, the development kitchens (laboratories), PJT’s technology Centre (a development facility that served the whole group, not just the snack division), packaging engineers, and representatives from the division’s two manufacturing plants. All but the Manufacturing representatives were allocated to the project team on a fulltime basis. Unfortunately, Manufacturing had no –one who had sufficient process knowledge and who could be spared from their day-to-day activities.
Besides, regarding to the clients, the JVI had never build up a connection with the client until the surprisingly got the contract, the existence of hierarchy and non-trust between client and project team lead to the inefficiency of obtaining client information, later resulted in Jack’s misleading proposal for market research. Also, because in the concept of high power distance, decision making process is limited one-way participation and communication (In the Eye of the Beholder, cross cultural lessons in leadership from project GLOBE, Mansour Javidan, Peter W. Dorfma, etc), Jack’s own lack of experience on project management made it is possible for the project to diverge from previous direction under one person’s leadership.
The cultural norm was to operate only within your function. This “decentralized managerial philosophy” hindered proactive communications between departments that that could have assisted in the company’s transition to project management.
Though this phase had identified that there is some disconnect between the project team and the champion it failed to list down the key stakeholders and their involvement in the project. This phase should clearly develop a high level project plan to show the highlighted completion date with the list of team members.
The Project Management Plan (PMP) provides the general overview and establishes specific strategies and milestones for the preparation of study notes and delivery of presentation on the topic “Developing the Project Team “. The PMP will define the project 's requirements and expectations. This document will be updated as required, if there is any change in the subsidiary management plans.